A well received christmas gift that sparked my Sherlock addiction and spurred me onto creating a blog to record and share the wonderful books I am reading. It was a completely refreshing take on the typical Sherlock Holmes style hence the title. Horowitz is known for his Alex Rider books. This is Horowitz second offering in his Holmes series.

Synopsis: Inspector Athelney Jones of Scotland Yard travels to Meiringen, Switzerland to view the body of one Professor James Moriarty, which has been pulled from the waters at the foot of the infamous Reichenbach Falls, I am sure you all know the story. Mr Holmes is also believed to be dead. He is joined – unexpectedly – by a Mr Frederick Chase of the Pinkerton’s Detective Agency who was pursued by Clarence Devereaux – a notorious New York criminal boss – across the Atlantic to a planned meeting with Moriarty. Together they return to London tracking their quarries’ last movements and known associates to a fateful nexus at the heartof the London underworld.

Review: The way I imagine this book ties into the Sherlock universe would be the sequence after The 2011 film “Shelock Holmes, A Game of Shadows” starring Robert Downey Jr. A recommended good movie.

Jones and Chase take on the famous role of Sherlock and Watson if somewhat diluted does try to reflect the Doyle-ian style banter. I found myself lapping up the pages as its fast pace kept me hooked.

The sharp string in the tail is when Chase ‘breaks the fourth wall’ and directly talks to us, that Chase is not really Chase and is in-fact Moriarty. He then spills into detail about why he took on the persona of Chase. It was to out smart the american criminal that had taken up resistance on Moriarty’s patch. He got access to police investigation and no one suspected a thing – not even the reader. No one knows what Moriarty looks like and it played all into his favour. I guess I am more of a Watson than a Sherlock but I did NOT see that coming despite the big clue on the front of the book.

A good read and a worthwhile story to add to my classic Sherlock stories. Click Here to get your copy, have a cuppa and be sucked into this Holmes twist.